Most recently this journalist had a quick opportunity to sit with ex-president Banda and hear his words about the recent gold scandal involving him, his son James Banda and a Swiss National. Mr. Banda briefly stated that matter was not perceived correctly and that a mix up in paper work in the DEC was the most likely culprit.

As for the Swiss Businessman Nicolae Buzaianu who arrived in Lusaka at first believed with the motivation of purchasing gold but that is untrue claims Banda. Mr. Banda was more than happy to set the records strait that Mr. Buzaianu who was UNESCO representative for Zambia arrived to express his dismay that he was stepping down from his post. This conversation confirms the original intentions and not the intentions first offered that President Sata relieved Buzaianu of his duties. Mr. Banda finished with a quote from Euripides “Wealth stays with us a little moment if at all: only our characters are steadfast, not our gold.” The scandal in Zambia continues.

When doing research about scandals on the continent of Africa one can easily see that it is not only by the dirty hands of foreigners coming here for out exportable wealth but the dirty hands of our won politicians and leaders. Show me a poor politician and I will show you and honest politician but few are to be found.

Africa has a large quantity of natural resources including oil, diamonds, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver, petroleum we also have woods and tropical fruits. Our abundance of natural resources makes us exploitable by many nations like the U.S., U.K., Canada, and France. One resource they are not interested in is our impoverished children.

Sudan and Nigeria are two of the main oil producers. China owns 40% of Sudan’s oil production. Oil is provided by both continental and offshore productions. Together they account for 85% of the continent’s oil production and are, in order of decreasing output, Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Angola. Other oil producing countries are Gabon, Congo, Cameroon, Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Cote d’Ivoire. Exploration is taking place in a number of other countries that aim to increase their output or become first time producers. Included in this list are Chad, Sudan, Namibia, South Africa and Madagascar while Mozambique and Tanzania are potential gas producers.

Ore resources in Africa are plenty, and extremely more so nowadays as other continents are beginning to face depletion of resources. The copper belt in Katanga, the diamond mines in Sierra Leone, Angola, and Botswana are well known for their abundance and rich produce, albeit, also notorious for their level of corruption and links to rebel movements. The RUF (Revolutionary United Front) and the blood diamonds used to supply these rebel factions with arms is one such example.